The makers of 'Udta Punjab' were on an intense hunt for a production partner until Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms came on board.

Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh on the sets of 'Udta Punjab'. Picture courtesy: Diljit Dosanjh's Twitter account @diljitdosanjh

If industry sources are to be believed, two major studios had been engaged in a tug-o-war to produce the thriller starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Punjabi actor Diljit Dosanjh. However, Anurag Kashyap-led Phantom Films, which was backing the project right from the beginning, apparently did not want to team up with any of them.

"Phantom wasn't keen on collaborating with Fox Star Studios as the latter is yet to release a part of funding for Anurag's 'Bombay Velvet'. In case of the other studio, there were some differences over the marketing strategy of 'NH10'," says a source.

Since 'Udta Punjab' deals with a dark subject of drug abuse in Punjab, the makers felt it would be best to go with Balaji for their 'strong' marketing skills, suggests the source.

Anurag denies the story.